The Magician's Code of Murder
by boswifedeb
Summary: Matt's ranch hands Bo and Lamar go into business together and their ambitions get them more than they bargained for. When the clues lead to San Francisco, the PI enlists the help of one of Uncle Roy's friends – Insp. Nash Bridges of the SFPD. It's a wild ride as the two join forces to bring down a murderer. **Immediately follows "Point of Ignition".** Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

"**The Magician's Code of Murder"**

****This story immediately follows "Point of Ignition"****

"**Someone creates a trick, many people perfect it, **

**but its final success in front of an audience depends**

**on the person who presents it." - Rene Lavand**

**CHAPTER 1**

"I'm tellin' you Lamar – I seen it on the TV. We can make a ton of money doin' it." Bo Harper leaned on the tamp bar that he was supposed to be using to tamp in a new fence post on his boss' ranch. He and his friend Lamar Pettybone had worked for Matt Houston for quite a few years and were replacing a section of fence that had been torn up by a falling tree on Houston's sprawling ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.

"You ain't gonna have a paycheck much less a ton of money if you don't get yer work done. Now quit ratchetin' yer jaws and get done. We've still got five more to get done – plus we gotta get the wire up." Lamar, the older of the two wasn't really interested in more money. He had a string of ex-wives back in Texas and didn't need them coming to him for more money.

"You just ain't got no gumption…no vision." Bo began tamping in the post while Lamar climbed up on the tractor.

"I got plenty of vision. What I ain't got plenty of is you gettin' yer work done." The old cowboy fired up the tractor and moved it down to the next spot where a new post was needed.

Later on that evening as the two cowboys sat watching TV in the bunkhouse, Bo pointed out the show that had gotten him interested in buying storage lockers. Lamar sat up and paid attention. "See? Look how easy that is! And your ex-wives don't hafta know a darn thing about it." Bo crossed his arms and looked at Lamar. "Whatcha say: wanta go in halves?"

"Well…I dunno…where would we put all the stuff before we sold it?"

"Heck, we've got all kinds of room in the barn!"

"Well…" The old cowboy pondered it. "Do you really think we could get rich?"

"Sure – just look at them folks on the TV. Why they're just rollin' in the dough. Look at that wad of bills that feller's got on him."

"Oh alright, I guess we can try it." The two cowboys toasted their new business with a couple of bottles of beer.

The pair set out early on Saturday morning to go to their very first auction. A handful of other hopeful buyers were on hand. As they made their way around the facility getting a couple of minutes to look over the abandoned units the two got excited. When the bidding began on the first unit that was filled so full of items that no one could even walk into it, the two cowboys began bidding.

Bo raised his hand when the auctioneer started the bidding at $200. A few others started bidding and before too long both of the cowboys were bidding – even against each other. Lamar finally noticed what had happened after he heard a few chuckles and giggles from the other people in attendance. "SOLD - to the gentleman in the cowboy hat!" The auctioneer broke down and laughed as Bo danced a jig in celebration.

They moved on down through the units until they reached another one that they were interested in and Bo began bidding against the others. After winning the unit, the pair was digging through their wallets and Lamar even removed his secret stash from inside his boot to pay for the prize. With their money spent, the two cowboys began sorting through their newly acquired treasures.

Starting with the first unit that they had bought, they quickly learned that not every unit was a big winner. After wading through old broken down, dusty furniture and a mattress that looked like it had been around since the gold rush days, they made it back to the boxes that were stacked to the roof at the back of the unit.

"Are ya ready to see what we won?" Bo was standing atop of a chair that was perched precariously on top of a rickety table.

"Yeah, grab one of them boxes." Lamar couldn't wait to see what was inside.

"Alright, here we go!" Bo snagged one of the top boxes and turned to set it on the table but lost his balance and fell on top of the neighboring stacks. The old cardboard boxes collapsed, sending bottles and packages of makeup and lotion cascading to the floor.

"What in the tarnation is all that stuff?!" Lamar moved over to help Bo to his feet.

"Makeup?" Bo picked up a bottle of tan-looking liquid. "It don't matter, Lamar. Doncha see? We can make a lotta money off this stuff. Then we can get more storage units and…what is that smell?" Both men started fanning the air.

"Stinks worse than a San Antonio house of iniquity!" Lamar staggered out of the unit coughing and gagging.

"Here it is: there's some fancy French stuff in here. Says _'Parfum de Lilly de la Vallée_."

"Smells more like skunk in the alley to me." The old cowboy continued to gag.

After packing up the remaining boxes and loading the furniture into the back of the pickup, the two ranch hands moved on to their second purchase.

"Now see, Bo – these folks knew how to pack." Everything was packed into large wooden crates. Lamar looked at his watch. "We better get a move on. Houston wants to work on shoeing the horses this afternoon."

"Yeah…" Bo surveyed the unit. "Let's just load this stuff up and we can look at it later."

An hour later they headed back to the ranch, parking the truck and trailer behind the bunkhouse. "You still stink, Bo." Lamar wrinkled up his nose as they headed down to the barn where Houston was already gathering the supplies that they needed to shoe the horses.

As they got nearer, Matt looked up and saw them. "Where were y'all?" Just as they started to answer, the boss got a whiff of the perfume that had gotten on Bo. "What in the hell is that smell?" Matt began sneezing. He looked at the two cowboys. "Did y'all get into another poker game with the girl bikers?"

"No…and you promised you wouldn't bring that back up no more, Houston." Bo gave his boss a hurt look as the younger man began chuckling.

"Well if you're done with the ladies I'd like to get started on shoeing these horses." Matt turned and went back to the tack room to get the last of the tools that he needed.

"When we get done here we need to get the trailer unloaded." Lamar was whispering to Bo.

"Yeah, then we'll go through the rest of the stuff." They went and got the horses that Matt would be working on and the three men worked together to get the job done.

Later on that evening, Matt and CJ were in the pool with their daughter, Catey Rose who was now seven and a half months old. As they splashed and played, Matt heard something and looked down toward the barn, as did CJ. "What are they doing? I thought you boys were done for the day." She looked at Matt.

"We are. I don't have a clue what they're doing." He pushed himself up on the side of the pool for a minute and then came back into the water. "Looks like they're moving some crates." Shrugging his shoulders, he went back to playing with Catey.

Sunday morning, Matt headed down to the barn to saddle up a couple of horses. He and CJ had planned on riding up to the lake on their property and having a picnic with Catey. When he got there, he could hear his two helpers arguing. "Uh huh, and just what in the heck are we supposed to do with this stuff? Go from door to door peddling it?" Lamar was standing at the doorway of the last stall in the barn.

"What are you boys up to?" Matt could see that they had the trailer backed into the back end of the barn and there were several crates and boxes on it – and the smell that had him sneezing the afternoon before was even stronger. He walked up to the stall and stopped: inside, Bo was standing with a garbage bag, removing broken bottles from a box that looked like an elephant had sat on it. "Good Lord – what is that stuff, Bo?" Matt put his arm over his nose and walked inside. "What did you boys do – hold up a cosmetics counter?" He started laughing.

"No sir, we didn't. We've gone into business together." Bo looked like his feelings were hurt.

"Ohhhh boy." Matt's smile faded. "What have you two done?"

"Well Mr. Smarty Pants here decided we needed to do like them folks on the TV and buy up storage lockers and sell what's in 'em." The older cowboy was giving Bo a dirty look.

"Uh huh. Y'all do realize that they just show the good stuff that they find on that show doncha? Most of the time it's just junk in the lockers – that's why people quit paying the rent on them."

"But this ain't junk – it's makeup, and jewelry, and fancy French perfume!" Bo held out a bottle to Matt who covered his nose back up again.

"No thanks, I don't think it likes me too much." He backed back out of the stall. "Fellas, can I give you some advice?" Both men nodded. "Just chalk that perfume and stuff up as a loss and get rid of it. Maybe the stuff in the crates will be something good – after all, look how they packed it up. It might be something valuable."

"He's got a point, Bo. That makeup and stuff might be outta date or somethin'."

"Oh alright. Let's move this out into the hallway and then we can open the crates and see what's in 'em." Bo began picking up the boxes and moving them back outside as Matt headed toward the tack room and got ready to saddle Cricket and Lucy, sneezing several times in the process.

An hour later, Matt and CJ along with Catey and Tilly, were headed up the trail to the lake when his phone began ringing. Sighing, he pulled it out of his shirt pocket. "Yeah Lamar?"

The old cowboy sounded upset. "Houston, you need to get back down to the barn. There's a dead lady in some of the crates."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Det. Lee Jennings pulled down to the barn behind Houston's house and got out of the car just as the private eye rode up on horseback with his infant daughter. Right behind him was a van from Channel 12 News carrying reporter Tamara Placer.

"Sorry to have to bother you on Sunday." Lowering his voice he added, "Look, could you ask her to leave?" He pointed to the reporter and Lee walked over and informed her that they would have to leave the property.

Matt pulled his feet out of the stirrups and put his right leg over the saddle horn, sliding down to the ground while holding Catey. He walked toward the barn followed by Cricket as well as Chantilly, the half Husky-half Blue Heeler pup who was now a member of the family since Sheila Wentworth had moved in and become the family's nanny.

"Matt, I don't think Catey needs to be in there." CJ grinned as he stopped in his tracks and turned to hand the little girl off to her mom.

"Sorry, Babe." He turned back and headed toward the barn once again, the two animals following his every step.

"I don't really think Cricket or Tilly need to go in there either." She was doing her best not to crack up. Matt's horse followed him around like a dog every chance she got and Tilly was his constant shadow these days.

The cowboy turned back around and looked at the pair. "Stay." Tilly sat down right next to the horse and Cricket stood where she was.

"That's quite a family you got there, Houston." The detective chuckled as he followed Matt inside the barn. "So exactly how did this crate end up in the barn?"

"Well, you need to talk to Bo and Lamar about that." Matt stood with his thumbs hooked on his belt.

After the two cowboys explained their big business plan to the detective, they pointed to the stall where the crate was sitting with the top leaning against it. Inside was the body of a woman. "What the…" Jennings shook his head.

"The rest of her is over there…well…we think it's the rest of her…the outfit kinda matches." Lamar and Bo looked at each other and nodded.

"Boys, when you opened the first one and found what you did…didn't it seem like you should just stop right there?" Matt looked at his two employees.

"We opened 'em at the same time." Bo looked like he wanted to throw up.

Lee Jennings almost managed to stifle the chuckle but not quite and it set Matt off. After he regained his composure – somewhat – the private eye cleared his throat. "So are these the only ones that y'all have opened?" Both of the ranch hands nodded.

"Guess we should wait for CSI to get here before we open anymore." Lee had no sooner gotten the words out of his mouth before Bob Wisnewski spoke up.

"I'm here. What is this about a lady in a crate?" The new CSI tech approached the stall and took a look as he pulled on a pair of gloves.

"Actually, it looks like she's in a couple of 'em." Matt pointed to the second crate.

"Uh huh. Well, let's see what we've got here." He began by first taking pictures of the scene, then dusted the crates and the tops for prints. Turning to look at the two ranch hands he asked, "Are you the ones who opened these up?"

"Yes sir." Lamar and Bo looked at each other nervously.

"Okay, I'll need to get your prints as well." He went on with his job.

"Fellas, how many more crates are there?" Matt turned to look at his two employees.

"There's six of 'em in all. We got those three in here yesterday evening but then Lamar was complaining that his back was hurting so we moved the rest of 'em in here this morning."

"And where did they come from?" Lee had his notebook out and was taking down the information as Bo and Lamar told him about the storage unit auction.

Wisnewski looked around the stall and stuck his head back out into the hallway. "Is that the trailer that you used?" He looked at Bo.

"Yep."

"Can we use it to transport these to the lab?"

"Well it's Houston's trailer…" The cowboy looked at his boss.

"Yeah Bob, we can sure do it." Matt put on a pair of gloves that the tech handed him as did Lee and Bo. The four men easily loaded the crates in just a few minutes. "Why don't both of you boys follow Bob here and he'll take your prints at the lab, okay?"

"Houston, I'm really sorry. We had no idea that somethin' like this would happen." Lamar had a worried look on his face.

"Nothin' to be sorry about, Lamar. Y'all go ahead and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes." He and Lee walked out of the other end of the barn, followed by Wisnewski.

"This is quite a place you have here, Houston." Bob had never been to the ranch before.

"We like it – even if it is smaller than the ranch in Houston." He winked at the tech. "Lee, let me get these horses taken care of and I'll be along."

"Okay, see you there." The detective and the tech walked back out to their vehicles.

"Smaller than the ranch in Houston?" Bob asked Jennings as he put his kit back into the van.

"Uh huh." Lee just grinned. Hoyt had told him about the ranch in Texas after he went to a wedding there a few months back. He had described it as half-palace and half-ranch. The tech let out a low whistle as he shook his head and walked back around to the door and hopped in.

Matt showed up at the lab about ten minutes after everyone else. Just as he walked in, Bob was working on taking Lamar's fingerprints. "So how does this doohickey work?" The tech was using a digital fingerprint scanner. "The Navy took my fingerprints when I joined up and I got ink all over my hands." As Bob took the prints, he showed the old cowboy how it worked. "Well ain't that just snazzy!"

The men were soon joined by Cheryl Crawford, another one of the CSI techs and a friend to Matt. "Hey there, Houston – what's up? You didn't wear the chaps this time." She gave him a big smile.

"No, I was going on a picnic, not working cows." Matt followed her as she headed for the crates along with Lee. "You boys sure did get more than you bargained for, didn't you?" She gave Bo and Lamar a big smile.

"I think that might be the last auction I ever go to." Lamar sadly shook his head.

"Is that supposed to be a showgirl's outfit or what?" Jennings was looking over into the crate that Cheryl had reopened.

"Good question." She opened the other crate and took a look. "Fishnet stockings, huh?" She picked up a pry bar and headed for another one of the crates. "I'm going to wait on the Coroner to get here before we try to move her." After a couple of attempts at opening the crate she turned to Matt. "I bet you can do this a whole lot quicker."

"Yes ma'am." He had it opened in just a few seconds. "Well, I think I just figured something out." He peeked inside. "The lady was a magician's assistant – because this guy looks like the magician."

Bo and Lamar walked over. "Oh my Lord, what kind of trouble have you got us into, Bo?" The older cowboy looked at his partner.

Matt chuckled. "Uh oh – what's so funny?" Cheryl looked at the PI.

"Looks like we're going to be pulling a magician out of a crate and not a rabbit out of a hat." He grinned.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" Lee Jennings cracked up much to the dismay of the two ranch hands.

"Y'all sure do take all this lightly." Lamar looked at Houston.

"Well fellas, I'm sorry these folks are dead, don't get me wrong; but a little humor can sure help the folks who are left behind to have to deal with this sort of thing." Matt tried not to laugh any more, but Cheryl had gotten a case of the giggles.

Lee looked at the two ranch hands. "When you see stuff like this – and some that's even worse than this – on a regular basis…well, if you can't laugh a little bit you might just go crazy."

"Guess that makes sense." Lamar looked over at Bob. "Can we go now – before y'all find any more of these?" The old cowboy pointed to the crates.

"Sure, we know how to reach you." Wisnewski watched as Matt's helpers left, then chuckled. "Those two are right out of an old western movie."

"They're the real deal, Bob. You know I've been lucky…I've got two of the best cowboys around here to take care of things for me and three of the best in Texas."

They went back to the crates and opened the three that were left, finding the bottom half of the magician, the top of the sawing box, and the two bottom compartments of the box. Matt and Lee removed them from the crates and put them on a table for Cheryl to begin processing. Both appeared to have blood both on and in them. "Maybe he had an apprentice and something went wrong?" Lee looked at the others.

"They don't really saw anybody…you know that, right?" Bob had joined the group.

"Well yeah, but, you know…maybe…hell, I don't know."

"I know somebody who can probably shed a little light on this." Matt pulled out his phone and dialed. "Hey Uncle Roy, how are you feeling? Good. Actually I do need some help. Do you think you could come down to the lab?" He paused and nodded at the others. "We need some of your expertise here. Alright, thanks." Hanging up, he grinned. "Back when he was a teenager Uncle Roy had a magic act that he did for birthday parties and that kind of stuff. He was pretty good, too."

A little while later the older Houston walked into the lab. After suffering a heart attack a few weeks back, Roy seemed to be in good condition. He had been taking some time off and was scheduled to head to Hawaii in two days' time for a vacation. "Aha, I see you called me for my magical expertise." He was smiling. "It's been quite a while since I've used my powers of prestidigitation." As he looked over the box his smile dimmed. "There's not supposed to be any blood involved in this trick. Is it real?" He looked to Cheryl who nodded. "That's not good."

"So could you explain how the trick is supposed to be done?" Lee looked at the older private eye.

"Heavens no – that would go against the magician's code of ethics!" He gave Jennings a shocked look.

"Could you at least tell us if it was possible for someone to replace the fake blades with real ones?" Matt was chuckling at the look on Lee's face.

"Sure it's possible – not that there are fake ones used, of course."

"Uh huh." Lee looked back and forth between Matt and his uncle.

"So where are the blades that were used?" Roy looked into the crates nearby.

"We don't have 'em." Matt stood with his thumbs hooked in his belt as he explained how they came to find the bodies.

"Hmm…" He walked around and looked into the crates again. "You know, somebody thought this through. These are lined with plastic, so nothing drips out. And they can't have been in there for too long. The decomp isn't that bad." Just as the words came out of his mouth two workers from the Coroner's office walked into the lab. "If you can get an ID off of their prints…" He pointed to the magician and his assistant, "You might be able to find out where the blades are."

Matt and Lee both nodded. "I think we need to go hit that storage locker and see if maybe the boys missed something and see if we can get any information on who rented it in the first place." Matt looked over at Lee.

"Let's do it."

"Uncle Roy, you want to come along? Maybe your prestidigitational proficiency will proliferate some possibilities." Matt smiled at his uncle.

"Perhaps." Roy put his hand on Matt's shoulder and they walked out of the lab together. "Did CJ teach you all those big words, boy?"

"Yep."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"There was what inside the crates?!" The middle-aged woman behind the counter of the storage facility appeared ready to pass out.

"A magician and…" Matt started to tell her again.

"I heard you the first time – please don't repeat it." She gave a shudder and then began working the keyboard of the computer in front of her. "C-137 was rented to a Margaret Schaeffer. But it…wait a minute…" The woman had a puzzled expression. "She died about two months ago and her son came and cleaned out the locker. I remember it because he gave me a vase that was in there." She hit a few more keystrokes. "I don't know why it was on the auction list; it shouldn't have been."

"Ma'am, who has access to this computer?" Houston leaned on the countertop.

"Well, myself, my husband Marlin, and my grandson Reggie." She looked back at the machine.

"Would you mind if I came around and took a look at it?"

"No, not at all." She stepped to the side as the tall cowboy came around the end of the counter and took over the keyboard.

"How long have you had this system?" He punched several keys and a blue screen came up.

"Oh my goodness, what did you do to it?" The woman was starting to panic.

"It's okay; I'm into the boot files. See?" Clicking a few more keys returned the screen to the one which Mrs. Oates was familiar.

"Oh, thank goodness! You scared me there." She gave a nervous laugh. "Well, let's see… Marlin and I bought the business from his brother back in 2001 and it was here then. We haven't changed anything about it. It works, so we just left it alone. We aren't very big on computers I'm afraid."

Matt gave her a big smile. "I've got to say I haven't seen one this old in a long time. It's from 1993."

"Wow." Lee leaned over the counter and Matt turned the screen for him to see.

"This keyboard isn't that old though." Houston picked it up and looked at the back of it.

"No, that got replaced about a week ago. Marlin is still complaining. He liked the old one, but when Reggie was working for us last weekend it went on the fritz and he replaced it for us."

"Do you think we could talk to Reggie?" Houston had an idea of how the Schaeffer locker had been put on the auction list.

"I can try calling him." She pulled out her cell phone and called. "Reggie, it's Nana, hon. Call me as soon as you get this." Hanging up she turned to Matt. "Knowing him he's out surfing. Other than working here and going out with his girlfriend that's about all he does."

Matt was still going through the computer's files and could see that some changes had been made to the system the week before. "Would you mind giving us his number and address? I'd really like to talk to him."

"Surely you don't think he had anything to do with it? That's my grandson…" Mrs. Oates looked at Matt as if he had just slapped her in the face.

"We'd like to talk to him because he's your resident computer expert." The PI gave her a smile.

"Oh well, yeah I guess he could tell you more about it than I could." She wrote down the information. "He lives with Marlin and me, has since he was eight years old. His parents were killed in an auto accident. He's my daughter's son."

"Yes ma'am." Matt went back around the counter as he stuffed the piece of paper in his shirt pocket. "Would you mind letting us take a look at the locker?"

"Sure, I can do that." She picked up a ring of keys and led them out to the locker that was at the far end of the property.

Matt stepped to the side of the unit and was looking around. There was a dumpster located on that end of the building. As the locker was opened up, he pulled on a pair of gloves and got his flashlight out of his back pocket. Mrs. Oates turned on a light switch and the three detectives looked around the unit, Matt walked to the back of it and knelt down to look at a damp spot on the floor. He stood up and shone the flashlight on the roof of the unit, then turned it off. "Hey Lee…"

The cop walked over and looked up. Daylight was shining through part of the roof. "Mrs. Oates, has there been any leaking reported in this unit before?" Lee turned and looked at the owner.

"No…well my stars; where did that come from? We had the roof replaced a few months back when a tornado came through here."

"Yeah, Matt remembers that day." Roy grinned at his nephew who nodded and smiled.

"Oh?" The owner looked at Matt.

"My daughter was born that day." He chuckled as he walked back out of the unit and backed away trying to get a look at the roof. Walking around to the end of the building, the PI rolled the dumpster toward the back wall where the slanting roof was at its lowest point, before climbing on top of it, then on to the roof. Carefully looking before he stepped, Matt went toward the area of the hole. "Lee, you need to call out CSI – we've got some blood on the tin up here. Looks like it's fairly fresh."

Jennings pulled out his cell phone and placed the call. "Cheryl says she'll be here in about twenty minutes." He headed over to the dumpster and made the climb up to the roof.

Matt was kneeling down next to the hole where the blood was smeared on the tin. "This stuff is easy to get cut with – especially if you aren't wearing gloves; actually, even if you are. I replaced a good bit of tin on the barn roof after the tornado and got a few cuts for my trouble."

"I can see where that would be a problem." The detective lowered his voice. "So what are you thinking here?"

"Look at the seam here where the tin was joined." He tapped on a section of the roof. "The ribs overlap and you use screws with rubber or neoprene washers, plus on a roof with this little bit of slant…" He cocked his head and eyed the roof. "It's probably a 2:12 slope – you really need to use side lap sealant."

"I'm going to guess that isn't something that a stripper uses in a club." Lee grinned at the PI.

"No, definitely not. Basically it's like a cross between two-sided tape and weather stripping. It's applied on the bottom piece of metal where it overlaps…"

Lee nodded. "So when you put the other piece on top it seals it. Yeah, that makes sense."

"With a slight slope like this it takes the water longer to drain off and that sealant keeps things water-tight. I'm afraid the Oakes kinda got taken to the cleaners on this roof job. There's no sealant and the screws don't have the washers. Somebody was sure cutting corners – in the wrong area to cut corners." He stood up and stretched his back. "Bet they're going to be getting a lot of water damage complaints when the rain starts this winter." Popping his back and letting out with a sigh of relief, the private eye continued. "I think somebody removed the screws from the tin enough so that they could put the crates down inside there."

"Houston, most folks would just go in through the door." Lee wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, but did you see the placement of the security cameras?" He nodded in the direction of the front of the building. "They only shoot at the level where the doors are – quite well, I might add. But they don't cover the roof at all." Both of the detectives walked toward the front of the unit and looked down at the security cameras. They turned and headed back, Matt lowering his voice. "I'd say it was someone who was familiar with the security cameras…I don't think the grandson was the one that actually did it…but I've got a feeling that he knew about it and was the one that put the unit on the auction list."

"But wouldn't whoever killed them want the bodies to go undiscovered? Let's face it – people go to all kinds of measures to cover up a murder."

"Maybe they wanted these folks to be found for some reason."

"It's worth checking. I'll have a unit go by the house and see if he's there and bring him down to the station." Lee pulled out his phone and quietly made the call. When he hung up, the detective glanced toward the area where Roy was keeping Mrs. Oates distracted with chatter. "Roy looks like he's doing pretty good."

"Yeah, he is. I think the jewelry store jobs were just a little more than he needed to be doing. He's about to head to Hawaii to go see Mama."

"As in Mama Novelli?" Lee was somewhat surprised.

The PI nodded and grinned. "They've been dating for about a year or so now."

"Wow. What does Vince think about it?"

"He wasn't too excited at first but he's okay with it now." They climbed back down from the roof, staying until Cheryl showed up to document the scene. As Matt and Roy got into the younger man's truck, Roy was whistling. "Looking forward to seeing Mama?"

"Yep." Roy smiled.

Matt's phone rang a couple of minutes later. "Yeah, Lee?"

"Just thought I'd flag you off. Reggie wasn't at home. I'll see about talking to him tomorrow."

"Alright, guess I'll see you then. 'Bye." Matt hung up.

"You know, I'm really surprised that Lee doesn't know how that trick is done." The older PI looked out the passenger window. "It's on WhoTube after all."

"Guess he's just never had enough curiosity to look for it." Matt chuckled and headed back to the lab to drop Roy off at his car before heading back to the ranch.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Monday morning at 8:00am found Matt rolling into the parking garage at the Houston Industries building. He boarded the elevator and headed up to the penthouse suite that served as the office of Houston Investigations. Stepping off of the elevator, he was greeted by a big smile from his secretary Chris. "Got the coffee made for you, boss, but I thought you were supposed to be taking the week off?"

"I'm helping Lee with a case. Plus I can get more studying done here than at home most of the time. Thanks, Chris." He had his Fire Investigation books and laptop under his arm as he walked on into the main part of the office. After stashing the books and laptop in his office, Matt hit the coffee pot behind the bar before heading over the back of the couch to pull up BABY. The usual greeting of "HIYA, BOSS!" appeared on the screen. "Mornin' to you too, BABY. Let's see if we can find out anything about Reggie McDonald." He began by typing in the young man's name on the keyboard and looked up to see what he could find in the search engines that were available to him. Picking up his coffee cup, Matt began reading what he had found. Reggie had won a couple of amateur surfing competitions locally in the last couple of years. There were a couple of small newspaper articles about it, but Matt didn't see much else about the young man. He leaned back on the couch and picked up the phone next to him, calling Lee Jennings. "Howdy. I was doing a little checking on our boy Reggie. Does he have a record with y'all?"

"No, he doesn't. I just checked." Lee kicked back and put his feet up on the desk.

"Alright, did you get an ID on the magician or his assistant yet?"

"That I do have. Our magician was David Newhouse, 37, lived in an apartment at the corner of Arlington and Jefferson. Single, never married. No record with us other than a couple of parking tickets. The woman was Olivia Cadena, 22, lived in an apartment on the corner of Jefferson and Harvard, just a few blocks from Newhouse. Single and absolutely no record." He blew out a breath.

"Do you know if Newhouse was working fulltime as a magician or was it like a kids birthday party type deal?"

"He had performed at a few places around town, but it looks like the majority of his income came from doing parties and teaching at Abracadabra Academy." The detective waited for the laughter and didn't have to wait long.

Matt chuckled. "Oh boy, well that's one I haven't heard of before. And just where is this wealth of wizardry?"

"You've been around CJ and Roy too long." The cop couldn't help but grin. "It's on the corner of San Fernando and Santa Anita. Want me to pick you up?"

"No, I'll just meet you there. See you in a few." Matt hung up, returned BABY back to her normally hidden place inside the coffee table, put his cup on the bar and headed for the elevator. Just as he told Chris where he was going and hit the button, the doors opened and out stepped CJ. Matt filled his wife in on what was happening and kissed her before heading downstairs to the parking garage.

"How does he get his schoolwork done?" Chris turned to her computer.

"I'm not really sure, but he manages somehow." CJ rolled her eyes and headed into her own office and began on the paperwork that was waiting on her.

As he pulled into the parking lot next to the school, Matt's phone rang. "Hey Michael, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just getting my gear together for the trip to Texas – and wondering how in the hell you ended up with two bodies in your barn over the weekend." Michael Hoyt had been taking some time off from the police department after being shot a few weeks earlier.

"Who told you?" Matt got out of the truck and dropped the tailgate to wait for Lee.

"I heard about it on the news…and Sanchez called a little while ago when he got wind of it. So what's the deal?" The PI filled in the cop on the particulars and waited. "I guess I just don't rate anymore – you used to call me when bodies started popping up." Hoyt was only kidding with Matt.

"Yeah, well since we finally got you to take some time off I figured I better leave well enough alone."

"I'm just kidding, Houston. Really though, let me know what happens." They talked on for a couple of minutes until Jennings pulled into the lot.

Inside the lobby of the building were posters of magicians such as Houdini and the Blackstones. The two detectives were greeted by a young woman standing behind a counter. "Hi, can I help you?" Lee showed his badge and began to ask her about Newhouse and Cadena. "I'm sorry, but they won't be in until 1:00 today. Their class on classic magical acts starts then. But they usually get here about twenty minutes before the start of class."

Matt and Lee exchanged a glance. "Miss, they won't be in today." The cop explained what had happened and the young woman behind the counter suddenly pulled a stool over and sat down on it as she burst into tears.

"That can't be true…" She pulled a tissue from a box under the counter and dabbed at her eyes after a couple of minutes. "What in the world happened?"

"We're not sure ourselves, but it looks like they were uh…" Matt looked to Lee.

"It looks like they were sawed in half." The cop hated to be so blunt, but the truth was already being broadcast on the news.

"Oh no, God no." The young woman started crying again. "That was David and Olivia's specialty. That was the grand finale for their classes."

"Do you know of anyone that they had trouble with lately? A student, someone else in the business, maybe?" Houston had his notebook out.

"Well…" The young woman looked around to make sure that no one heard her. "This is a very competitive business as I'm sure you probably know. Magicians battle over everything from who performed a trick first to who does a trick the best…it's a rough business really. Some people are against us being here altogether – you know, teaching how tricks are done. They think that is best passed down to only a rare few. But everyone here wants to spread the love of magic."

"Was there anyone in particular who felt strongly about what David was doing – sharing his knowledge?" From watching Roy over the years, even though he no longer did magic for a living, he knew that keeping the secrets just that – secrets - was a very serious position, especially among the older magicians.

"Oh there are several…Jonathan Manzanilla, Luther Bergeron, and Charles DuMornay for starters. They're the ones who have caused the school the most trouble. All three have sued to keep tricks that they claim they invented from being taught here."

"And did they win these lawsuits?" Lee Jennings pulled out his phone as it rang and checked the ID. "Sorry, got to take this. You two go ahead." He stepped aside and answered the call from the ME's office.

"None of them won the lawsuits and all three of them have threatened David in the past."

"Do you know how we might be able to get in touch with them?" Matt had already written the names down in his notebook.

"Jonathan Manzanilla is playing in town right now – at the old Orpheum Theater. Bergeron is playing somewhere in Vegas, and DuMornay …I'm not really sure about him."

Houston pulled out one of his business cards and handed it across to the girl just as Lee walked back over to join them. The cop handed her a card as well. "Please call us if you think of anything else that might help us find who did this."

"I will." She teared up again as the pair turned and went out through the front doors.

"So I guess we check into these three." Matt stopped at his truck. "How about I call CJ and let her see what she can find on them and we go check through your records and see if any of them are in there?"

"Works for me. Oh, by the way, I got a call from the ME's office. They estimate the time of death on Newhouse and Cadena as being about four or five days ago. See you there." The cop got into his car and left as Matt slid behind the wheel of the truck and punched CJ's number on speed dial.

"Hey Babe, I've got some names for you. Ready?" When she assured him that she was he rattled them off to her and told her where he would be. "Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too, Cowboy. Talk to you in a few minutes." She hung up and began hunting for information on the three men. Chris, Matt's longtime secretary came in and picked up a stack of the paperwork that CJ had completed. "Well, I guess I'll start by taking a look at Jonathan Manzanilla…age 54, divorced…sheesh! Five times. Wow, must be hard to live with…and he is now playing at the Orpheum. Hmm, not a lot to work with there. Okay, let's try Luther Bergeron…47 years old, divorced twice…guess these guys can pull a rabbit out of a hat but they can't stay married."

Chris laughed. "You're starting to sound like your hubby."

"Could be worse I guess. Let's see: Mr. Bergeron is playing at the Palladium Hotel and Casino in Vegas right now, and has been for the last six months." She paused as she continued to search. "Here's an article about a lawsuit." The lawyer-turned-PI read on. "And he lost it." Blowing out a breath she reached for her coffee cup and took a sip before beginning to dig on Charles DuMornay. "Let's see here…he's 50 years old, never married, and…there's another lawsuit against Newhouse and he lost as well. Guess it's hard to prove who invented a trick. Right now he's in San Francisco playing at a theater downtown. And…that's all I've got on him."

Matt pulled into the parking garage of the police station and instead of taking the stairs to the fourth floor like he did most of the time, the PI decided to take the elevator. Although he was free from the hydrogen cyanide that he had inhaled the week before, it didn't seem to take much to tire him out the last few days. He stopped by the coffee pot and talked to Luis Sanchez for a minute before heading over to the squad room and Lee Jennings' desk. He pulled a chair over in front of the detective's desk and propped his feet up on the corner of it. "By all means, make yourself at home." Jennings grinned at the PI. "I've got Manzanilla's record here. He's had several restraining orders taken out on him."

Matt's phone rang. "Yeah Babe, whatcha got?"

"Not much I'm afraid."

"I'm gonna put you on speaker so don't talk dirty, okay?" The cowboy winked at Jennings. "So what did you get?"

"I came to the conclusion that magicians may not be the easiest people to live with - one of these guys was divorced five times."

"That would be Manzanilla – he's had eight restraining orders against him; so far, that is." Lee hit a couple of keys.

"Hi Lee, how are you today?" CJ leaned back in her chair.

"Pretty good – how about you?"

"Alright. Anyway, other than being divorced multiple times and losing lawsuits against our magician victim, I haven't found anything even remotely interesting on these guys." She sat down behind her desk and picked up her coffee cup to find the contents cold, so she headed to the microwave to heat it up.

"Well on this end we have the restraining orders on Manzanilla, Bergeron has a couple of DUI's, and DuMornay had a drunk and disorderly once about ten years ago. That's it."

"We know where the first two guys are, but what about DuMornay?" Matt absently scratched at the beard on his face.

"He is in San Francisco at present playing at a theater." She walked back into the office.

"Okay Babe." Matt thought for a minute. "I guess we better go talk to these guys…and CJ, could you see what you could find out about the ex-wives?"

"I can do it; anything else?"

"As many of them as you're going to be working on I think that's enough at the moment. Good luck. Love you."

"Love you, too. Take care of him for me, Lee."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises." The cop grinned as he pulled his jacket off the back of his chair and the two detectives headed for the elevator.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Jonathan Manzanilla?" Matt was standing about halfway down the center aisle of the Orpheum Theater.

"What's it to you?" Turning slowly, a grumpy looking man faced the PI.

"I was hoping we might be able to talk for a minute." Matt sauntered on down the aisle.

"Well of course – I obviously have nothing better to do – like rehearse for the show tonight." Manzanilla was standing with his arms crossed shooting Matt a look intended to kill. "Let me guess – you're a process server, right?"

"No sir, I'm not." Houston walked up to the edge of the stage and held out his right hand. "My name's Matt Houston; I'm a consultant to the LAPD." Since the magician apparently had no intention of shaking his hand he lowered it. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me about David Newhouse."

"I can tell you all kinds of things about him and none of them good." Manzanilla sat down on the edge of the stage.

"I see. Did you know that he was murdered?" Matt searched the man's face but saw almost no reaction to the news.

"Someone was bound to do it before much longer. I can't say that I'm surprised or saddened at the news, Mr. Houston. Newhouse was the lowest form of magician – always giving away carefully guarded secrets and trying to take credit for tricks that he didn't create."

"Uh huh – so would you happen to have any idea who might have wanted to kill him – and his assistant?"

"Take your pick; practically any legitimate magician out there today would have gladly killed him."

"Well if you were to take your pick, who would you say might have done it?" Matt heard movement behind him and looked back over his shoulder to see Lee Jennings coming down the aisle.

"Like I said - any legitimate magician. I'm not going to point fingers at anyone and make your job any easier for you." The last was said with a smirk.

"Alright. Could you tell me where you were last Wednesday and Thursday?"

"Oh boy, this is the part where I have to come up with an alibi. Let's see…" He stood up and looked down at Matt. "I spent most of last Wednesday talking with a lawyer about filing a lawsuit against David Newhouse. That night Maryanne and I were together. Thursday we rehearsed and had a show." He put his arm around his assistant. "Now if you're done asking me stupid questions, I do have better things to do." He turned and walked toward the back of the stage and began rehearsing again.

Houston turned to Lee. "I hope he has a better personality in his act." They turned and started out of the theater.

"I talked to the theater manager. He confirms that Manzanilla was here Thursday rehearsing and putting on the show."

"Do you know anybody in Vegas or San Francisco?" They walked out the front door and headed for the parking lot. "It could save us a lot of time and travel."

"I do know somebody in Vegas. I'll give her a call and see if she can help us out with Bergeron."

"That helps some." Matt's phone rang. "Hi, Uncle Roy." He pulled his keys out of his pocket and leaned against the fender of the truck. "Yes sir, we're still working on it. You don't happen to know any cops in San Francisco do you?" He got a big smile on his face and nodded at Jennings. "Uh huh, well we would sure appreciate it." There was a pause as Roy spoke. "That would be great. Thanks. 'Bye." He ended the call. "He not only knows an inspector in San Francisco but the guy is also into magic. Uncle Roy's gonna call him and have him call me."

"Great. I'm going to head back to the office and see what my friend in Vegas can tell us. Let me know what you get." The cop waved and headed to his car as the PI slid behind the wheel of the truck headed back to his own office.

Matt stopped inside of CJ's office to let her know he was back before heading into his own office to try to get some work done on his fire investigation class. Forty five minutes later, the PI headed out to the bar for a cup of coffee and his cell phone rang. "Houston."

"Hi, this is Inspector Nash Bridges, SFPD. I got a call from your uncle telling me that you boys could use a little help." Bridges leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and propped his feet on one of the rails of the pier that was the current home of the Special Investigations Unit of the San Francisco Police Department. The view of the bay was beautiful.

"Yes sir, I sure could." Matt explained what they had so far in the case and when he told the inspector about Bo and Lamar and their find he heard a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Some days it just don't pay to get out of bed." Bridges looked up as his partner Joe Dominguez walked over and plopped down in the chair next to him. Matt continued to tell him about the case and brought him up to date and asked him if he knew anything about Charles DuMornay.

"No, not really. Where is he supposed to be playing?"

"Hang on a second. My wife was the one who was checking on him." He walked into CJ's office. "Hey Babe, which theater is DuMornay at in San Francisco?"

"The St. Martin's on Geary Boulevard." She looked up from the financial statements on her desk.

"Did you hear that?" Matt sat down on the loveseat, propping his right leg up.

"Yeah. Okay, I'll run down that way and see what I can find. So we're talking Wednesday or Thursday, right?"

"That's about as much as the ME can tell us. I sure do appreciate the help."

"Not a problem. I owe your uncle. Man, he is one amazing guy with the ladies." Bridges laughed.

"He is that, but I wouldn't be too surprised if there are wedding bells ringing before too long."

"There's gonna be a lot of broken hearts if they do. I'll holler back at you when I've got something. See ya." Nash hung up and headed for the parking lot.

"So now what are we working on?" Joe followed his friend out to the parking lot where they got into Nash's bright yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, one of only fourteen that were made.

"I'm paying back a debt. Roy Houston called me earlier and asked me if I could help out his nephew Matt. He's a PI that acts as a consultant to the LAPD. They've got a case that involves some magicians and he wants me to check the alibi of one of 'em – a Charles DuMornay. He's playing at the St. Martin's Theater."

"That should be easy enough. What kind of case is it?"

"Double homicide: a magician by the name of David Newhouse and his assistant Olivia Cadena. They were sawed in half." He looked over at his partner.

"Ouch." Joe gave a shudder and they rode on in silence for a minute. "I know that name…Matt Houston…wait a minute, is he the millionaire dude that…"

"Yep." Nash answered before the question was even out of Joe's mouth.

"Whoa! Seriously, Nash-man – why would anybody who's a millionaire wanna work as a PI? Or work in general? That's just _loco_, man."

"I don't know, but from what I've heard he does one helluva job, Bubba." The pair chitchatted during the ride to the theater and Nash parked the car at the curb in front of the building. As they strolled inside, the two cops found their path blocked by a security guard.

"Sorry fellas, we're closed at the moment." The sixty-something year old with a pot belly that made his gun belt hang at an odd angle put his hands on his hips.

Nash flashed his badge. "We're looking for Charles DuMornay. Would he happen to be around by chance?"

"Oh, yeah…" The guard pointed over his shoulder to the entrance to the theater. "He's rehearsing. But I wouldn't advise going in there right now."

"Oh, why is that?" Joe gave the guard a quizzical look.

"He's in the middle of chewing out his assistant." He looked behind him to make sure no one could hear.

"Well then - I guess we'll be helping a damsel in distress." Nash grinned at the guard and walked on into the theater. Up on the stage, a pretty blonde was in tears as the enraged magician belittled everything from her makeup to the way she performed the tricks. Raising his voice a little, Nash spoke to the man. "Mr. Charles DuMornay I presume?" The magician jumped.

"What are you doing in here? This is a closed rehearsal!" DuMornay turned and headed down the steps.

"Easy there, Bubba." He flashed his badge again. "Inspector Bridges, SFPD. This fella here is my partner, Joe Dominguez. We've got a couple of questions to ask you."

"Look, I don't care what that bimbo has told you, I didn't lay a hand on her."

"Well, Mr. DuMornay, I don't have any idea what bimbo you're talking about but I need to know where you were this past Wednesday and Thursday." Nash, as usual, was unflappable.

"It's none of your damn business where I was. Now unless you have a warrant, I suggest you leave. NOW."

"You know, Nash, almost every time we get one of these _abogado autodidacta_ types they're usually guilty." Joe gave the magician an appraising look.

"Yep, you're right, Joe. Mr. DuMornay, didn't your mama ever teach you that you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?" The inspector walked right past the man and up onto the stage where he started looking through the props that were being used.

"Get out." DuMornay followed him up on stage.

"It isn't your theater, Bub. Now, if you were to cooperate with me – answer my questions – then I would be happy to oblige you by leaving." He picked up a set of five linking rings and began playing with them. "Used to love this trick when I was a kid. So what about it? Where were you?"

"I was at my hotel." DuMornay was standing with his arms crossed.

"Alone?" Bridges continued to play with the rings.

"Yes, alone. Is that a crime?"

"Of course not. So you didn't go out anywhere at all – say to dinner or anything?" The rings continued to clink.

"Yes, I went out. Wednesday night I went to Alejandro's and Thursday I went to Alioto's. Anything else before you leave?"

"Oh boy, yeah, Alioto's is some good eating. Say, what did you have?"

"The minestrone and a salad. Will that be all?"

"Well let's see…Joe, did I miss anything?"

"Yeah, you forgot to ask him if he had a date with him." Joe rocked heel to toe.

"No, I was alone."

"Wow, that's too bad…the ladies really love Alioto's. Alright Mr. DuMornay, you have a good rehearsal, you hear?" He handed the rings to the magician and went down the steps and back up the aisle. DuMornay looked down to find the rings were all in a tangled jumble.

Back in the lobby, the two detectives found the manager's office. "Hi there, Inspectors Bridges and Dominguez, SFPD. Could you tell me what hotel the great Mr. DuMornay is staying at in our fair city?"

The manager rolled his eyes. "The only thing great about him is the size of his ego. He's staying at the King George."

"Thanks for the help." Nash turned and he and Dominguez headed out to the car.

"So what do you think?" Joe closed the car door as his partner cranked the engine up and pulled away from the curb.

"I think we're about to play "Who Wants to Call a Millionaire"." He looked over at his friend and gave him a grim smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

"Houston." Matt put down his pencil and rubbed his eyes as he answered his cell phone.

"Nash Bridges. We just went and had a little chat with your boy DuMornay. Aside from the fact that he's got the personality of a dead fish, his alibi for Thursday is hinky."

"Oh, what was it?" Matt got up and unlocked the door as someone knocked on it. Peeking out, he saw CJ and let her in before locking it back again.

"He claims he went to Alioto's and had the minestrone."

"Alioto's doesn't have minestrone." Matt had been to the famed restaurant on historic Fisherman's Wharf many times over the years.

"Exactly."

"You were testing me, weren't you?" The PI laughed as he sat down.

"Just trying to see if you're as sharp as your uncle." Nash stopped at a red light. "He's staying at the King George. Other than that I don't have diddly." The light turned green and he took off again. "I don't have any proof, but this guy stinks as bad as last week's garbage."

"Okay, I appreciate it. I'm going to run that by Detective Jennings and see how he wants to handle it…but I've got a feeling we may be meeting real soon. Can I reach you at this number?"

"Yeah, it's my cell. Just let me know what you want to do – and tell Roy I said hello, will ya?"

"I'll be sure to. Talk to you soon." Matt hung up as CJ sat down in his lap and put her arms around his neck.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're heading up to San Francisco?" She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Probably for the same reason that I feel that way, too." He reached up and stroked her cheek with his thumb and pulled her in for a kiss.

CJ pulled away after a minute. "Well Mr. Houston, I think you need to call Lee and let him know. Want me to call and have the jet fueled up?"

"I'd appreciate it." He gave her a quick kiss before she got out of his lap and left his office for her own. Heaving a heavy sigh, Matt picked up the phone on the desk and called Jennings, filling him in on what Bridges had to say.

"Okay, let me talk to the captain and tell him what's up. We'll have to get a flight to San Francisco and…"

"We've already got one: Houston Airways."

"Oh, okay. I'm sure he'll approve it then. Call you back in a few." Lee hung up.

Closing up his school books, Matt stood and stretched before heading downstairs to pack a bag. Even if Jennings didn't get approval to go, the private investigator fully intended to pay a visit and see if DuMornay was in fact their killer. After packing some clothes along with his bullet proof vest and holster, the PI went upstairs and took CJ and Chris out to lunch.

While he was half-way through his chimichangas at Ricardo's, Matt got the call from Jennings: it was a go. "Alright, we can meet at my office and go from there. Okay by you?"

"Works for me. See you in an hour." Jennings hung up the phone and looked over at Detective Carl Trenton. "Looks like I'm going to Frisco. Want me to bring you some sourdough back?"

Back at the office, CJ watched Matt as he checked through his bag on the loveseat in her office. He started to head downstairs. "More ammo?"

Matt stuck his head back in the door. "Just in case." He gave her a smile and headed back down to the closet in the gym where he loaded three more magazines before returning to his wife's office. "Can you girls stay out of trouble while I'm gone?"

"Oh, WE can stay out of trouble: it's you that seems to have a problem. And hon, try not to overdo, okay? " She got up from her chair and came around to lean against the front of her desk as Matt zipped up the bag. He walked over to her, pulling her in for a kiss. Lee came to the door of the office.

"I promise to try to stay out of trouble, Babe." He gave her a hug as Lee came into the office. "Tell the little booger I love her, will you?" Giving CJ a quick kiss he picked up the bag. "I'll call you later."

"You boys have fun." She watched as the pair headed down the steps into the outer office and disappeared into the elevator. Although he seemed to have bounced back from being exposed to hydrogen cyanide gas the week before, Matt still looked tired to her. She had suggested that he take off the next week and he had agreed.

"Have you heard anything else from the ME about Newhouse and Cadena?" Matt shifted the bag from his right hand to the left.

"He said it looks as if they spent a little while tied up before they were killed and that most likely they were still tied when they were cut." They stepped off of the elevator and Lee went to pull a suitcase out of the trunk of his car and put it in the back of Houston's truck next to the PI's. He climbed into the passenger side of the vehicle and they headed for LAX. "The LT was right – this is one nice ride."

Matt grinned. Michael Hoyt didn't know it yet, but Matt had ordered a truck for not only him, but for Vince Novelli as well. The only people who knew about it were himself, CJ, Anne Hoyt, and Isabella Novelli – and that's the way he planned to keep it.

The two talked a little as they headed to the airport and Matt parked his truck inside the hangar. They headed out onto the tarmac and Lee followed the PI as he inspected the plane before taking off. Once they had received clearance and were airborne they relaxed a little bit. "So…" He looked over at Lee.

"This is nice, Houston. No wonder the Lieutenant likes working with you." He cracked up.

"Boy, he sure didn't used to like working with me." Matt chuckled and shook his head. "He gave me hell for a while."

They chatted through the forty five minute flight and landed at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Waiting for them at the hangar were two men leaning against a bright yellow Barracuda. When they stepped off of the plane, Matt tossed his bag up on his shoulder and spoke to the man who would be taking care of the jet for him, then walked across the tarmac to join the other three men. He held out his hand to one of the cops. "I'm gonna guess you're Bridges." The two men shook.

"This guy here is my partner, Joe Dominguez." Nash introduced the two.

"Nice to meet ya." Matt looked the car over. "Is this your ride?"

"Yep." The men loaded up in the car and headed for the SIU as Nash and Matt talked about first the car, then the case.

"So you think they went through the roof to put the bodies in the storage locker?" Joe had turned around in his seat to face Matt who was sitting behind Nash.

"It looks that way." The PI looked over at Jennings. "Did they get a hit on the DNA yet?"

"Not that I've heard, but I'll call and check." He pulled out his phone and talked to Luis Sanchez. "No hit. It doesn't appear to be in the system."

"Well it is now." Matt shook his head.

Joe's curiosity was getting the better of him. "Mr. Houston, I gotta ask you something…"

"Oh boy, here we go." Nash grinned and shook his head. "I'm surprised you waited this long, Joe."

"Hey man, it's a legitimate question." He turned back to Matt.

"I'm not gonna tell you anything – until you quit calling me Mister. Just call me Houston." Matt grinned.

"Okay, but I gotta know something. You're a millionaire, so why are you working as a PI? I mean you could be out on a yacht or living on an island somewhere…what's up with that?"

Matt chuckled. "It's a long story, Joe. Let's just say that I like to try to help people that sometimes the cops can't…sometimes there are too many rules."

"Amen to that one." Nash nodded his agreement. He pulled into the lot and they got out of the car, Matt with a big grin on his face. "I hope you don't get seasick, Houston, 'cause this is what the city found for us to work out of."

"Nope, not anymore." They walked onto the pier and headed inside. Matt nodded. "Now this is actually a pretty good setup." He followed Bridges back to his desk and had a seat on the railing that ran alongside. Two other men, that he assumed were also inspectors, were staring a hole through him and Lee.

"It ain't polite to stare, boys." Nash waved the two men over. "Houston, Jennings - this is Harvey Leek and Evan Cortez, two of San Francisco's finest."

Matt reached over and shook their hands as did Lee. "Nice to meet you."

"It's really nice to meet you…Nash hardly ever gives us compliments like that…guess he's trying to show off." Evan grinned as he and Harvey high-fived each other.

"I didn't say San Francisco's finest WHATS, now did I?" Nash gave the pair a big grin.

"That's just low, man." Harvey, as always, was wearing the black Grateful Dead armband.

"Alright, let's get down to business here, boys." Nash leaned back in his chair. "Our friend Charles DuMornay is staying at the King George and working out of St. Martin's Theater. Now when Joe and I showed up at the theater earlier, he was in the middle of chewing out his assistant."

"So we might be able to get a little information out of her. He's probably not on her favorites list right now." Matt absent-mindedly scratched at the beard on his face.

"Exactly."

The PI's phone rang and he answered. "Yeah Babe?"

"Hi there. I take it you landed okay?" CJ was on her way to the ranch and had been wondering about him.

"Yes ma'am, sorry I forgot to call you. Is everything okay?"

"Just fine – I'm about five minutes away from home. Do you think you can stay out of trouble?"

"I'll try." The PI grinned. "I'll call you later. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too, Cowboy. 'Bye."

He hung up the phone and looked at the picture on it for a minute. "Are you homesick already?" Lee elbowed the PI in the ribs.

"Shut up, cop." Matt grinned as Harvey leaned over to take a look at the picture on his phone.

"Is that your wife?!"

"Yep, that's CJ. And the other pretty little lady there is my daughter, Catey Rose." He turned the phone so that Harvey and Evan could both get a look.

"Wow, man, she is some kinda hot! Your wife I mean." Evan faintly blushed.

"Hold on, now, I gotta see…" Joe walked over. "Ooooh, _Mamacita caliente!_"

"_Cuidado ahora, ese es mi esposa te está hablando_." Matt grinned at the look on Joe's face.

"You didn't tell me he spoke Spanish, man." Joe looked at his partner.

"Well hell, how was I supposed to know?" Nash was laughing. "Might as well let me see, too." He looked at the picture and nodded. "She's a pretty one alright." Leaning back again, he looked up at Matt. "So, have you got any ideas?"

Matt slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket. "I think the girl would be a good place to start. What do we know about her – other than the fact that she must be hurting for a job to put up with the jerk?"

"I got Harvey here to do a little checking while we were on the way to pick you up." Nash motioned to the detective with the armband.

"Her name is Patty Russo. Age 22, attended UC Berkley for a while, dropped out. Lives at 12054 Franklin, apartment D-12. Single. No record." He flipped his notebook closed.

"Do we know when their next show is?"

"According to the theater's website, they won't have one until tomorrow night." Evan crossed his arms and leaned against the post.

"So we might be able to talk to her tonight…" Houston nodded. "Can I talk to you for a minute – privately?" He looked at Nash.

"Sure, let's step outside here." Matt followed Bridges outside to the deck overlooking the bay. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm not sure how much of a stickler you are for the rules…" Matt grinned and then turned serious. "But I'd like to put a couple of critters inside the theater…like maybe one on the equipment that will be used in the show and one in DuMornay's dressing room…and one inside his hotel room if I can."

Nash chuckled. "Critters, huh?" Matt nodded and pulled one of the bugging devices out of his shirt pocket and handed it to the inspector. "These are the ones that Roy told me about – that you helped Dunlap with?" He turned the tiny piece of electronics around and looked at it.

"Uh huh." Matt was holding his breath. He had a feeling that Bridges would play along without getting a warrant but wasn't one hundred percent sure.

"You know, there are all kinds of little bugs and such in hotel rooms…" Nash smiled and nodded.

"I'll make you a deal." Matt leaned against the rail and looked over at the cop. "You help us out with this one and I'll get you a few uh, samples…and the program that goes with 'em."

"Works for me. And you don't have to worry so much – we're quite liberal in our thinking here."

"Just testing the waters…" Matt grinned.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

The men decided to divide and conquer. Lee and Harvey staked out the theater and waited for Patty Russo to leave for the day and followed her first to the supermarket and then to her apartment. After waiting a few minutes for her to get settled in, they went up and knocked on the door. "Miss Russo? I'm Harvey Leek, SFPD. Can we talk with you for a minute?" The blonde looked slightly shocked.

"What is this about?" She looked between Harvey and Lee.

"It's about Charles DuMornay."

"Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Possibly. I would prefer not to talk about it out here..." Harvey jerked his head in the direction of an elderly woman who had opened her door to see who was talking in the hallway. Lee smiled at the woman who scowled in return.

Nodding, Patty opened the door for them. "Come on in." She closed the door. "Please have a seat. Can I get you something? Coffee?"

"No, thank you." Harvey and Lee sat down on the couch. "This is Detective Lee Jennings with the LAPD."

"LAPD?" The young woman looked shocked.

"Yes ma'am." Lee leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "We've got some questions about Mr. DuMornay. Do you know where he was Wednesday or Thursday night?"

"No, I have no idea. I don't have anything to do with him – any more than I have to when we're working. He's...well, he's not very nice. If I didn't need a job so badly I wouldn't put up with him." She was sitting with her arms wrapped around her like she was cold.

"That's the impression that my boss got today – he came by the theater to talk to him earlier."

The assistant smiled. "He must be the one that tangled up Mr. DuMornay's linking rings." A slight giggle escaped. "It took him half an hour to get them straightened out."

"Yep, that's my boss." Harvey chuckled. "Do you know if he was out of town on either of those days – or nights?"

"I have no idea. Like I said, except for work I completely avoid him."

Lee spoke up. "Has any of the equipment he uses turned up missing by chance?"

"Well, I think so. I realize that magician's try to keep their tricks secret, but he's almost fanatical. He only tells me what I absolutely have to know to be able to do the act." She leaned back and appeared to relax a little. "We have a performance tomorrow night and he still hasn't shown me how to do the cutting box trick."

The two detectives looked at each other. "Miss Russo, I'm going to tell you the whole reason why we're here. We suspect that your boss killed another magician and his assistant in Los Angeles – by cutting them in half."

There was a shocked looked on the young lady's face, and then she looked ready to be sick. "Doing that trick?!"

"We don't think he was performing the trick – just using it to kill them. See our big problem is that his fingerprints aren't on file, or his DNA for that matter. And we haven't been able to find the blades that were used yet."

"Wow. As bad as it sounds, I can see him doing something like that. He's...well, weird just isn't a strong enough word, you know what I mean?" She shook her head. "What can I do to help?"

* * *

Meanwhile Nash, Joe, and Matt were at the theater speaking with the security guard that they had talked to earlier in the day. Nash pulled him aside and asked for his help. "I'm just a security guard, Inspector. What can I do?"

"Well for starters you can tell us what tricks DuMornay has been using in his act." Nash had put a hand on the man's shoulder and steered him into the theater and up onto the stage.

"Oh well, I haven't actually seen the show, but I've seen him rehearsing. He uh, well, this thing here..." He tapped on the vanishing cabinet. "He uses that. And these ring things here." He paused and then led the three detectives around the stage and backstage areas and showed them what he had seen DuMornay rehearsing with.

"Does he do that trick where he cuts somebody in half?" Matt had already planted a couple of his critters: one in the vanishing cabinet and another on a table that was used for several of the other tricks.

"You know, he did when he had that other assistant. Clarice was her name – real nice girl. I thought she did a good job but he fired her last week."

"Do you know where the box is that he uses for that one?" Matt followed the little man to a back corner of the area.

"Right here." The guard tapped on the side of the box.

Matt slipped on a pair of gloves and opened up the cabinet to find it empty. "Have you seen the blades he uses on this?"

"When he practiced it with Clarice...but not this week. I haven't seen him doing that trick this week." He had a puzzled look on his face. "And from what I hear it's kind of like one of his best."

"Do you know if he has anymore of his gear stashed somewhere else?" The PI was feeling slightly frustrated. It seemed that DuMornay was covering his trail extremely well.

"He's got a dressing room. It's through here." He led the men back to a door with a large gold star on it. Nash tried the door, only to find it locked.

"Do you have the key to this?" Joe nodded at the door.

"No sir, I don't."

Nash looked at Matt and grinned. "If you're anything like your uncle I bet you can get it open."

Matt reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small case that contained his picks. "Now y'all can't give away my trade secrets." The PI grinned as he knelt down in front of the door, looked through the case, and then extracted a pick. The door was open in just a few seconds and the four men entered and began searching the room.

"Nothing in here." Joe had looked through the closet and Nash was looking through the dressing table.

"This is kind of interesting." Bridges pulled out a newspaper clipping. "It's about a lawsuit that DuMornay had against Newhouse – and lost."

Matt nodded as he closed the trunk that was in the far corner of the room. "That's happened twice." He blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know where…hang on." The PI grabbed a chair and drug it over to a ceiling tile that was loose. Sliding the tile to the side, he pulled a flashlight out of his back pocket and shone it around in the space. "Nothing…wait a minute." After shining the light on the edges of the support bars, Matt jumped up and grabbed a pipe that was running above the tiles and pulled his body up inside of the ceiling. Lying on top of the pipe, he shone the light around. "I'm gonna do a little traveling here, fellas." He started off along the pipe and was out of sight in a couple of seconds. Nash and Joe looked at each other.

"Go ahead, Joe. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things." The inspector smiled.

"Man, I don't want to go up there! Do you know how much this suit cost?" Dominguez looked at his partner in disbelief. "You're not gonna pull rank on me are you, Nash-man?"

"Yep."

After saying a few colorful phrases in Spanish that referred to his friend's lineage, Joe managed to get up on top of the pipe with a boost from Nash and the guard. "Houston, where are you?" The detective crawled along on top of the pipe. "Damn! This is a steam pipe! My _jeuvos_ are going to be hard boiled by the time I get out of here, man." He could hear Nash and the guard cracking up down in the dressing room.

Houston had shimmied all the way to the end of the length of the pipe. It made a 90-degree bend and went up toward the roof of the building but there was an open space in the wall and he could see the auditorium. Looking up, he could see the catwalk that ran above and across the stage. He pulled himself to a standing position and grabbed the pipe where it was heading upwards, then swung around it and threw his right leg over the railing of the catwalk. Balancing himself on the rail he pushed off from the pipe and landed with both feet on the metal grids that led across the stage. It was then that he heard a stream of curses in Spanish. "Joe, are you okay?"

"NO!" More curses in the other language flowed from the inspector's mouth and then Matt caught sight of him. "What the hell are you thinking, man?! This is a steam pipe for heaven's sake!"

"Yeah, kinda makes you think of Christmas, doesn't it?" He grinned as he held out his hand to help the cop over onto the catwalk.

"Christmas?! You really are _loco_!"

"Yeah, you know – "Chestnuts roasting on an…" Matt started singing the song and it was then that the cop swatted at him.

"Shut up, man. Nash and I are going to have a long talk." He kept grumbling as they made their way across above the stage and Matt kept snickering. "Why in the hell did we just do that?"

"What?" Matt was shining the beam all around them.

"You saw it led out into the auditorium. We could have gotten up here from the stage. It would have been a hell of a lot easier."

"Well, I was already here, wasn't I?" Matt said it with so much conviction and in such a rational voice that Joe completely stopped. "You aren't related to Nash are you? 'Cause that sounded like some of the _caca_ that he spews."

"Not that I know of." Matt was still grinning. The smile quickly left his face. "Damn it!" He could see a rectangular outline on the wall next to the catwalk – the outline was red and appeared to be blood. There were two pieces of duct tape at the top and the bottom of the rectangle that appeared to have been holding the blades in place. "Better call one of your CSI's, Joe. I think we just found where he was stashing the blades – but they aren't here now."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

After waiting for a tech from the Crime Lab to show up, the three detectives left the theater and headed to DuMornay's hotel. Matt took the opportunity to call CJ, while Joe was still muttering curses in Spanish and Nash was snickering.

"Hi Babe. Is everything okay on that end?" Matt could picture what was going on at the ranch: CJ had given Catey a bath and the two were snuggled up together in the recliner as the baby drank the last bottle of the day.

"Yep, Catey and I were just talking about you." She could hear the sound of an engine in the background. "Sounds like you're in a hot rod."

"Kind of – it's a 1970 Barracuda." Matt grinned.

"Ooooh, I'd like to see that. Take a picture of it for me, okay?"

"I can do that. By the way, we found where DuMornay had the blades stashed but they aren't there now. I've got a couple of critters planted in the theater and we're about to try his hotel room."

"Okay. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, just take care of yourself and Miss Whistle Britches for me." Matt missed his ladies already.

"I will. You be careful – this guy sounds like a wildcard. Love you, Cowboy."

"Love you, too, Babe. I'll call you if anything else happens. 'Bye." He hung up the phone and let out a big sigh.

Nash looked up in the rearview mirror and caught the PI looking at the picture on his phone once again. "Sounds like you two have a pretty good thing going."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, she's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Joe laughed. "Yeah, old Nash here thought that a couple of times, too."

"Just because it didn't work out for me doesn't mean it won't work out for them." Bridges had been married and divorced twice and had one child – a daughter – by his first wife. "Maybe if we had known each other a little better…"

Turning to look back at Houston, Joe asked the private eye, "So how long have you known your wife?"

With a big smile on his face Matt answered. "Right at 25 years."

"_Vaca sagrada!"_ Joe looked at the PI like he was from Mars. "And she still married you?"

"Yep."

Nash was near tears he was laughing so hard. "Somehow I don't think they're going to have any problems, Joe."

"My big problem right now is trying to figure out how to get a critter in DuMornay's hotel room…I should have done that this afternoon while he was still at the theater." Matt had been trying to figure out a way for the last hour.

"I've got an idea." Nash looked up in the mirror once again and gave the PI a smile.

Evan Cortez had just donned the uniform of a bellhop at the King George Hotel and was now making his way up to the sixth floor. Matt, Nash, and Joe were onboard the elevator with him. When the last of the hotel guests in the car got off on the fourth floor, Evan looked to his boss. "Why am I always the one that has to be a bellhop? Harvey never has to do it."

"Quit pouting, kid. You should feel honored." Nash looked at the young detective who shot him a disgusted look. "Really now, think about it: would you hire Harvey as a bell hop?"

All four men stepped off at the sixth floor, with Matt quickly picking the lock on a supply closet. Once he, Joe, and Nash were safely inside, Evan began knocking on the doors, informing the guests that the hotel was having an earthquake drill and asked them to please take the stairs down to the lobby where they would receive further instructions. Grumbling, half-dressed patrons made their way to the staircase including Charles DuMornay. Once he was gone, Nash used a keycard machine to open up the door to the magician's room and he and Matt quickly entered. Nash headed for the lamp next to the bed and installed a small camera that the PI had provided as Matt placed a tracking device in the man's suitcase and then bugged the phone. After a quick search of the room, they slipped out the door, to come face to face with Charles DuMornay himself. Once he recognized Nash, he took off running for the elevator. Joe knelt down over Evan, who had apparently been hit on the back of the head. The young man sat up.

"I'm okay, man, go get him." Evan shook his head, trying to clear his vision as he watched his boss head for the stairwell where the PI had disappeared.

Matt burst through the doors at the lobby level and spied DuMornay, looking over his shoulder. The man headed out the front door, diving into the front of a cab and throwing the driver out on the other side. He squealed out from in front of the hotel, turning left onto O'Farrell Street. Matt spied Nash's car and jumped over the passenger side door of the convertible and slid behind the wheel. "Damn it!" The PI realized that Bridges hadn't left his keys in the car and quickly leaned to the right where he snagged the bundle of wires from under the dash, cutting two of them, stripping their ends and twisting them together. The engine of the Barracuda roared to life and the PI sat up, dropped the car into gear and hit the gas, just as Bridges ran out of the hotel and dove headfirst into the back seat of the car.

The private eye took off onto O'Farrell Street, catching sight of the cab turning left onto Powell Street. He gunned the engine, dodging around a delivery truck and hit the turn squealing the tires.

"Don't tear up my car, man!" Bridges climbed over into the front seat, bracing himself between the dashboard and the door of the car as Matt once more turned left onto Geary Street. Nash picked up the mic to the police radio in the car and called in the chase. "Heading west on Geary…now north on Leavenworth! Damn that was close!" He flinched as the PI took the turn on two wheels. "You know they only made fourteen of these cars…"

"That's a shame, it's really nice." Matt pushed the accelerator to the floorboard. "It's got great pick up, too."

Nash looked unbelievingly at the man who seemed cool as a cucumber. "Glad you like it! Son of a …." He didn't finish the phrase as Matt turned left onto Green Street. The cop radioed in the change of direction and was somewhat relieved when he heard sirens approaching them. The cab squealed around the corner heading north on Hyde Street, Nash calling in the chase as Houston cranked the wheel to the right and hit the gas again.

"You know, you might want to consider getting an alignment…it's kinda pulling to the right a little." Matt kept his eyes on the cab that he was now gaining on. Once again, the inspector looked at the man like he had lost his mind.

"Man, I hope he doesn't turn on …DAMN!" Nash couldn't believe his eyes as the magician in the stolen cab turned onto a street that was a San Francisco landmark: Lombard Street. Lombard was a narrow, one-way street with a steep grade and a speed limit of five miles per hour. Evidently DuMornay had no idea that the street that he had turned on was one of the most winding in the world.

"Hang on!" Matt started working his way through the curves but ended up slamming on the Barracuda's brakes when he saw DuMornay lose control of the cab, launching it down the quarter-mile stretch of street. "Ohhhh boy, this ain't gonna end well." The PI headed on down the hill while dodging pieces of the undercarriage of the cab that were raining down all around them. Finally, the car landed in the intersection of Lombard and Leavenworth Street. When Matt brought the Barracuda to a stop at the bottom of the hill, he and Nash jumped out of the car and ran over to the cab, both men with drawn pistols.

DuMornay was unconscious, his head partially through the windshield of the cab. The cop reached in searching for a pulse and pulled out his cell phone, calling for an ambulance. Matt put the safety back on his pistol and tucked it into the back waistband of his jeans, pulling out his cell phone as it rang. "Hey Uncle Roy, how's it goin'?"

Bridges looked at the man, shaking his head and smiling. "Tell him I said hello."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Matt and Lee were sitting out on the pier that housed the SIU eating pizza with Nash's team. As he reached for another slice of pizza, Joe looked over at his partner. "You would never have let me drive the 'Cuda like that."

"It's not like I had a helluva lot of choice in the matter, Joe." Nash took the Fizzy Pop that Houston handed him. "Thanks for dinner by the way." He toasted the PI.

"I figured it was the least I could do – after hotwiring your car and taking it for a test drive." He grinned as the others started laughing. After a minute they settled back down. "The only reason I can think of for him to have killed Newhouse and Cadena was that he was tired of losing lawsuits. I guess we won't be able to prove that he had help from Reggie putting the storage unit up for auction."

"According to the doc at the hospital he probably won't be able to file any more lawsuits…it looks like he's going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life." Joe took a swig of his drink.

Matt looked across at Harvey. "So how did you figure out where he hid the blades?"

"After Joe told me about the trip across the steam pipe at the theater, I started taking a more creative look around his hotel room. I found them under the sink in the bathroom." He grabbed another slice of pizza just as Evan started to reach for it.

"Hey Harve, I'm injured here; how about a little consideration?" The young detective shot his friend a hurt look.

"Okay, consider this: you should have been keeping a better eye out for DuMornay. That way he wouldn't have been able to conk you over the head."

"Yeah, and then my car wouldn't have been abused so bad." Nash snatched the slice that Evan was trying to get, setting the group off on another round of laughter.


End file.
